Sharing three-dimensional gameplay

ABSTRACT

A method for sharing three-dimensional gameplay of a video game, that is rendered to a head-mounted display (HMD), to a social network, is provided, including the following method operations: recording, by an HMD connected computer, a three-dimensional (3-D) video clip to a storage, the 3-D video clip generated from 3-D gameplay of a video game that is driven by interactive use of the HMD; receiving, by the HMD connected computer, a request to share the 3-D video clip to a social network; generating, by the HMD connected computer, a two-dimensional (2-D) video clip by converting the 3-D video clip to a 2-D format; sharing, by the HMD connected computer, the 2-D video clip to the social network.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No.14/220,420 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,452,354), filed Mar. 20, 2014,entitled Sharing Three-Dimensional Gameplay,” which claims priority toU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/832,765, filed Jun. 7, 2013,entitled “Sharing Three-Dimensional Gameplay,” the disclosures of whichare incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to methods and systems for sharingthree-dimensional gameplay.

2. Description of the Related Art

The video game industry has seen many changes over the years. Ascomputing power has expanded, developers of video games have likewisecreated game software that takes advantage of these increases incomputing power. To this end, video game developers have been codinggames that incorporate sophisticated operations and mathematics toproduce a very realistic game experience.

Example gaming platforms, may be the Sony Playstation®, SonyPlaystation2® (PS2), and Sony Playstation3® (PS3), each of which is soldin the form of a game console. As is well known, the game console isdesigned to connect to a monitor (usually a television) and enable userinteraction through handheld controllers. The game console is designedwith specialized processing hardware, including a CPU, a graphicssynthesizer for processing intensive graphics operations, a vector unitfor performing geometry transformations, and other glue hardware,firmware, and software. The game console is further designed with anoptical disc tray for receiving game compact discs for local playthrough the game console. Online gaming is also possible, where a usercan interactively play against or with other users over the Internet. Asgame complexity continues to intrigue players, game and hardwaremanufacturers have continued to innovate to enable additionalinteractivity and computer programs.

A growing trend in the computer gaming industry is to develop games thatincrease the interaction between the user and the gaming system. One wayof accomplishing a richer interactive experience is to use wireless gamecontrollers whose movement is tracked by the gaming system in order totrack the player's movements and use these movements as inputs for thegame. Generally speaking, gesture input refers to having an electronicdevice such as a computing system, video game console, smart appliance,etc., react to some gesture made by the player and captured by theelectronic device.

Another way of accomplishing a more immersive interactive experience isto use a head-mounted display (HMD). A head-mounted display is worn bythe user and can be configured to present various graphics, such as aview of a virtual space. The graphics presented on a head-mounteddisplay can cover a large portion or even all of a user's field of view.Hence, a head-mounted display can provide a visually immersiveexperience to the user.

Another growing trend in the industry involves the development ofcloud-based gaming systems. Such systems may include a remote processingserver that executes a game application, and communicates with a localthin client that can be configured to receive input from users andrender video on a display.

To foster social interaction through video gaming, users can recordvideo clips of their gameplay, to share with their friends. When a userplays a video game using an HMD, the HMD can provide a very immersiveexperience during gameplay. However, a video clip of the user's gameplaythat is viewed by another person might not be presented on hardware thatis capable of replicating the original gameplay experience. Instead, thevideo clip might be presented in a much less immersive context, such aswithin an embedded video player on a website. Thus, there can be amismatch between the original gameplay presentation and the presentationof the recorded gameplay video clip. Because of this mismatch, arecorded video clip of a user's gameplay may not provide an optimalviewing experience for the viewer.

It is in this context that embodiments of the invention arise.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems forsharing three-dimensional gameplay of a video game. It should beappreciated that the present invention can be implemented in numerousways, such as a process, an apparatus, a system, a device or a method ona computer readable medium. Several inventive embodiments of the presentinvention are described below.

In one embodiment, a method for sharing three-dimensional gameplay of avideo game to a social network is provided, the method including:receiving a request to share a recorded gameplay portion to a socialnetwork, the recorded gameplay portion defined by three-dimensionalrecorded video; generating a two-dimensional video clip based on thethree-dimensional recorded video; sharing the two-dimensional video clipto the social network; wherein the method is executed by a processor.

In one embodiment, receiving the request is defined from an activegameplay session of a user.

In one embodiment, receiving the request is defined from a button presson a controller device.

In one embodiment, generating the two-dimensional video clip includesanalyzing gameplay activity occurring during the recorded gameplayportion to determine a focal depth at which to define a frame of thetwo-dimensional video clip.

In one embodiment, generating the two-dimensional video clip includesanalyzing gameplay activity occurring during the recorded gameplayportion to determine a depth of field according to which to define aframe of the two-dimensional video clip.

In one embodiment, sharing the two-dimensional video clip to the socialnetwork includes generating a post to a social graph associated with auser of the social network, the post defined to include thetwo-dimensional video.

In another embodiment, a method for viewing a three-dimensional gameplayvideo clip is provided, including: receiving a request to play agameplay video clip, the gameplay video clip defined in athree-dimensional format; activating a plugin to convert the gameplayvideo clip from the three-dimensional format to a two-dimensionalformat; presenting the converted gameplay video clip; wherein the methodis executed by a processor.

In one embodiment, receiving the request is defined from an interface ofa social network.

In one embodiment, the interface of the social network defines one ormore posts to the social network.

In one embodiment, the plugin is configured to detect a hardwareconfiguration of a device on which the plugin is executed.

In one embodiment, converting the gameplay video clip from thethree-dimensional format to a two-dimensional format includes analyzingrecorded gameplay data.

In one embodiment, the recorded gameplay data includes one or more ofgame state data, input data, motion data, or gaze direction data.

In another embodiment, a method for converting a recorded gameplay videoclip from a three-dimensional format to a two-dimensional format isprovided, including: analyzing recorded gameplay data from a gameplaysession from which the recorded gameplay video clip was generated;converting the recorded gameplay video clip from the three-dimensionalformat to a two-dimensional format based on the recorded gameplay data;wherein the method is executed by a processor.

In one embodiment, the gameplay data includes game state data.

In one embodiment, the gameplay data includes one or more of input dataor motion data.

In one embodiment, the gameplay data includes gaze direction datadefining a gaze direction of a user's eyes during the gameplay session.

In one embodiment, analyzing the recorded gameplay data includesidentifying a focal depth from a three-dimensional space defined by therecorded gameplay video clip.

In one embodiment, analyzing the recorded gameplay data includesidentifying a depth of field for the identified focal depth.

Other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for interactive gameplay of a video game, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a head-mounted display (HMD), in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates the function of a HMD in conjunctionwith an executing video game, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a system for generating and sharing a recordedgameplay video clip to a social network, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D illustrate various views presented to a user toenable creation of a gameplay video clip and sharing of the gameplayvideo clip to a social network, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a view of a social network site, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates sharing of a 3-D gameplay video clip on a socialnetwork site, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a system for converting a 3-D gameplay video clip toa 2-D gameplay video clip, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a 3-D image, from which a 2-D image is generated, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a head-mounted display, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a Game System, according to variousembodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following embodiments describe methods and apparatus for sharingthree-dimensional gameplay of a video game.

It will be obvious, however, to one skilled in the art, that the presentinvention may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process operations have not beendescribed in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for interactive gameplay of a video game, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. A user 100 is shownwearing a head-mounted display (HMD) 102. The HMD 102 is worn in amanner similar to glasses, goggles, or a helmet, and is configured todisplay a video game or other content to the user 100. The HMD 102provides a very immersive experience to the user by virtue of itsprovision of display mechanisms in close proximity to the user's eyes.Thus, the HMD 102 can provide display regions to each of the user's eyeswhich occupy large portions or even the entirety of the field of view ofthe user.

In one embodiment, the HMD 102 can be connected to a computer 106. Theconnection to computer 106 can be wired or wireless. The computer 106can be any general or special purpose computer known in the art,including but not limited to, a gaming console, personal computer,laptop, tablet computer, mobile device, cellular phone, tablet, thinclient, set-top box, media streaming device, etc. In one embodiment, thecomputer 106 can be configured to execute a video game, and output thevideo and audio from the video game for rendering by the HMD 102.

The user 100 may operate a controller 104 to provide input for the videogame. Additionally, a camera 108 can be configured to capture image ofthe interactive environment in which the user 100 is located. Thesecaptured images can be analyzed to determine the location and movementsof the user 100, the HMD 102, and the controller 104. In one embodiment,the controller 104 includes a light which can be tracked to determineits location and orientation. Additionally, as described in furtherdetail below, the HMD 102 may include one or more lights which can betracked to determine the location and orientation of the HMD 102. Thecamera 108 can include one or more microphones to capture sound from theinteractive environment. Sound captured by a microphone array may beprocessed to identify the location of a sound source. Sound from anidentified location can be selectively utilized or processed to theexclusion of other sounds not from the identified location. Furthermore,the camera 108 can be defined to include multiple image capture devices(e.g. stereoscopic pair of cameras), an IR camera, a depth camera, andcombinations thereof.

In another embodiment, the computer 106 functions as a thin client incommunication over a network with a cloud gaming provider 112. The cloudgaming provider 112 maintains and executes the video game being playedby the user 102. The computer 106 transmits inputs from the HMD 102, thecontroller 104 and the camera 108, to the cloud gaming provider, whichprocesses the inputs to affect the game state of the executing videogame. The output from the executing video game, such as video data,audio data, and haptic feedback data, is transmitted to the computer106. The computer 106 may further process the data before transmissionor may directly transmit the data to the relevant devices. For example,video and audio streams are provided to the HMD 102, whereas a vibrationfeedback command is provided to the controller 104.

In one embodiment, the HMD 102, controller 104, and camera 108, maythemselves be networked devices that connect to the network 110 tocommunicate with the cloud gaming provider 112. For example, thecomputer 106 may be a local network device, such as a router, that doesnot otherwise perform video game processing, but facilitates passagenetwork traffic. The connections to the network by the HMD 102,controller 104, and camera 108 may be wired or wireless.

FIG. 2 illustrates a head-mounted display (HMD), in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. As shown, the HMD 102 includes a pluralityof lights 200A-H. Each of these lights may be configured to havespecific shapes, and can be configured to have the same or differentcolors. The lights 200A, 200B, 200C, and 200D are arranged on the frontsurface of the HMD 102. The lights 200E and 200F are arranged on a sidesurface of the HMD 102. And the lights 200G and 200H are arranged atcorners of the HMD 102, so as to span the front surface and a sidesurface of the HMD 102. It will be appreciated that the lights can beidentified in captured images of an interactive environment in which auser uses the HMD 102. Based on identification and tracking of thelights, the location and orientation of the HMD 102 in the interactiveenvironment can be determined. It will further be appreciated that someof the lights may or may not be visible depending upon the particularorientation of the HMD 102 relative to an image capture device. Also,different portions of lights (e.g. lights 200G and 200H) may be exposedfor image capture depending upon the orientation of the HMD 102 relativeto the image capture device.

In one embodiment, the lights can be configured to indicate a currentstatus of the HMD to others in the vicinity. For example, some or all ofthe lights may be configured to have a certain color arrangement,intensity arrangement, be configured to blink, have a certain on/offconfiguration, or other arrangement indicating a current status of theHMD 102. By way of example, the lights can be configured to displaydifferent configurations during active gameplay of a video game(generally gameplay occurring during an active timeline or within ascene of the game) versus other non-active gameplay aspects of a videogame, such as navigating menu interfaces or configuring game settings(during which the game timeline or scene may be inactive or paused). Thelights might also be configured to indicate relative intensity levels ofgameplay. For example, the intensity of lights, or a rate of blinking,may increase when the intensity of gameplay increases. In this manner, aperson external to the user may view the lights on the HMD 102 andunderstand that the user is actively engaged in intense gameplay, andmay not wish to be disturbed at that moment.

The HMD 102 may additionally include one or more microphones. In theillustrated embodiment, the HMD 102 includes microphones 204A and 204Bdefined on the front surface of the HMD 102, and microphone 204C definedon a side surface of the HMD 102. By utilizing an array of microphones,sound from each of the microphones can be processed to determine thelocation of the sound's source. This information can be utilized invarious ways, including exclusion of unwanted sound sources, associationof a sound source with a visual identification, etc.

The HMD 102 may also include one or more image capture devices. In theillustrated embodiment, the HMD 102 is shown to include image captureddevices 202A and 202B. By utilizing a stereoscopic pair of image capturedevices, three-dimensional (3D) images and video of the environment canbe captured from the perspective of the HMD 102. Such video can bepresented to the user to provide the user with a “video see-through”ability while wearing the HMD 102. That is, though the user cannot seethrough the HMD 102 in a strict sense, the video captured by the imagecapture devices 202A and 202B can nonetheless provide a functionalequivalent of being able to see the environment external to the HMD 102as if looking through the HMD 102. Such video can be augmented withvirtual elements to provide an augmented reality experience, or may becombined or blended with virtual elements in other ways. Though in theillustrated embodiment, two cameras are shown on the front surface ofthe HMD 102, it will be appreciated that there may be any number ofexternally facing cameras installed on the HMD 102, oriented in anydirection. For example, in another embodiment, there may be camerasmounted on the sides of the HMD 102 to provide additional panoramicimage capture of the environment.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates the function of the HMD 102 inconjunction with an executing video game, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The executing video game is defined by agame engine 320 which receives inputs to update a game state of thevideo game. The game state of the video game can be defined, at least inpart, by values of various parameters of the video game which definevarious aspects of the current gameplay, such as the presence andlocation of objects, the conditions of a virtual environment, thetriggering of events, user profiles, view perspectives, etc.

In the illustrated embodiment, the game engine receives, by way ofexample, controller input 314, audio input 316 and motion input 318. Thecontroller input 314 may be defined from the operation of a gamingcontroller separate from the HMD 102, such as controller 104. By way ofexample, controller input 314 may include directional inputs, buttonpresses, trigger activation, movements, or other kinds of inputsprocessed from the operation of a gaming controller. The audio input 316can be processed from a microphone 302 of the HMD 102, or from amicrophone included in the image capture device 108. The motion input218 can be processed from a motion sensor 300 included in the HMD 102,or from image capture device 108 as it captures images of the HMD 102.The game engine 320 receives inputs which are processed according to theconfiguration of the game engine to update the game state of the videogame. The game engine 320 outputs game state data to various renderingmodules which process the game state data to define content which willbe presented to the user.

In the illustrated embodiment, a video rendering module 322 is definedto render a video stream for presentation on the HMD 102. The videostream may be presented by a display/projector mechanism 310, and viewedthrough optics 308 by the eye 306 of the user. An audio rendering module304 is configured to render an audio stream for listening by the user.In one embodiment, the audio stream is output through a speaker 304associated with the HMD 102. It should be appreciated that speaker 304may take the form of an open air speaker, headphones, or any other kindof speaker capable of presenting audio.

In one embodiment, a gaze tracking camera 312 is included in the HMD 102to enable tracking of the gaze of the user. The gaze tracking cameracaptures images of the user's eyes, which are analyzed to determine thegaze direction of the user. In one embodiment, information about thegaze direction of the user can be utilized to affect the videorendering. For example, if a user's eyes are determined to be looking aspecific direction, then the video rendering for that direction can beprioritized or emphasized, such as by providing greater detail or fasterupdates in the region where the user is looking.

Additionally, a tactile feedback module 326 is configured to providesignals to tactile feedback hardware included in either the HMD 102 oranother device operated by the user, such as a controller 104. Thetactile feedback may take the form of various kinds of tactilesensations, such as vibration feedback, temperature feedback, pressurefeedback, etc.

FIG. 4 illustrates a system for generating and sharing a recordedgameplay video clip to a social network, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The user 450 is shown to be utilizing a HMD452, which is in communication with a computer 454. The computer 454communicates over a network 440 with cloud gaming provider 400. Thecloud gaming provider 400 defines a game library 402 which contains aplurality of game titles which may be played by users accessing thecloud gaming provider's streaming gaming services. A user profilestorage 404 stores user profiles associated with specific users of thecloud gaming service. In one embodiment, a game session 406 is definedby the cloud gaming provider. The game session 406 can define the activegame engine of a video game as it is being played by the user 450. Asthe game session 406 progresses, gameplay is recorded and stored in arecorded gameplay storage 408. The recorded gameplay can includerecorded video and audio that is presented to the user, as well asrecorded inputs, events, parameters, or other game state data occurringduring the gameplay of the video game.

Sharing logic 410 is defined for sharing a video clip of the user'sgameplay to a social network. The sharing logic 410 may be configured toactivate a clip generator 412. The clip generator 412 may present aninterface to the user for selecting a portion of gameplay from which togenerate the video clip, and perform generation and storage of the videoclip to a gameplay clips storage 414. It will be appreciated that theclip generator may generate the video clip based on recorded gameplayvideo in conjunction with other recorded gameplay data, such as gameinputs, gaze direction data of the user, and various game state data ofthe video game.

The sharing logic 410 is configured to share the gameplay video clip toa social network 420. As shown in the illustrated embodiment, the socialnetwork includes user profile data 422, including users' settings,preferences, personal data, etc. Additionally, user graph data 424includes data defining the social graphs of the various users of thesocial network. Broadly speaking, this data defines the connectionsbetween users of the social network.

In one embodiment, the social network includes posting logic 426 forgenerating a post to the social network. In one embodiment, the postinglogic 426 can be accessed through an API of the social network. Theposting logic 426 may be activated by sharing logic 410 of the cloudgaming provider 400, so as to facilitate sharing of the video clipgenerated and stored by the cloud gaming provider 400 to the socialnetwork 420. The posting logic 426 of the social network 420 can beconfigured to define a post to the social network. Data defining thepost can be stored to a post data storage 428. The data defining a givenpost can include text, references to networked resources (e.g. ahyperlink or url, reference to the gameplay video clip), as well asvarious kinds of media content, such as images, audio, and video content(e.g. the gameplay video clip).

A session manager 432 is configured to manage a session on the socialnetwork by a user 462, who accesses the social network through a device460. It should be appreciated that the device 460 can be any computingdevice configured to provide access to the social network, and may do sovia applications, such as a web browser or a dedicated application orapp. The user's 462 session may be defined to provide a feed of posts tothe social network, which may include posts by users in a social graphof the user 462, as defined by the user graph data 424. To this end,feed logic 430 is configured to generate a feed of posts which arespecific to the user 462 and prioritized in accordance with variousfeatures, such as membership in the user's 462 social graph or asubgroup of the social graph, the user's preferences, history ofactivity on the social network, recency of the post or any comments tothe post, etc.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, the user 450 who has generated a videoclip of his gameplay is also a member of the social graph of the user462 on the social network. The user 450 is able to share the gameplayvideo clip to the social network as part of a post on the socialnetwork. The newly created post will appear in the feed that isgenerated for the user 462 when accessing the social network. In thismanner, the user 462 is able to view and share in the experience of theuser 450's gameplay of the video game.

Though in the illustrated embodiment, a cloud gaming provider isdescribed as defining the functionality for generating and sharing agameplay video clip to a social network, it should be appreciated thatin other embodiments, such functionality can be defined on the computer454, or the HMD 452, or on any other device or devices connected tonetwork 440 and so configured to perform the functionality for videoclip generation and sharing thus described.

Additionally, the gameplay of the video game as it is presented on theHMD 452 can be defined by three-dimensional (3-D) video content.However, users accessing the social network may not have the ability toproperly view 3-D video content. Hence, in one embodiment, the clipgenerator 412 is configured to convert 3-D recorded gameplay video to atwo-dimensional (2-D) video format. The 2-D video content can be moreeasily shared with others on the social network.

It should be appreciated that social network 420 may be any socialnetwork known in the art. The social network can be provided by aseparate provider or entity than that which facilitates the gameplay ofthe video game and video clip generation. In another embodiment, thesocial network is a gaming specific social network provided by the cloudgaming provider or a provider that facilitates the gameplay of the videogame.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D illustrate various views presented to a user toenable creation of a gameplay video clip and sharing of the gameplayvideo clip to a social network, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. At FIG. 5A, the user has just completed a level of gameplayin a video game. Upon completion of the level of gameplay, the user ispresented with an option to share video from the user's gameplay withother users of a social network. When the user opts to share gameplayvideo, then as shown at FIG. 5B, an interface for selecting a scene fromthe user's recorded gameplay video is presented. Each scene is anidentified portion of the user's recorded gameplay video. In theillustrated embodiment, a specific scene 500 is highlighted in the view.

It will be appreciated that scenes may be predefined for the user tochoose amongst, based on various aspects of the video game and theuser's gameplay. For example, a video game with a linear storyline mayhave defined sections (temporal and/or geographic) through which theuser must progress in a linear fashion. Predefined scenes can begenerated based on such sections. In other embodiments, predefinedscenes can be generated based on other facets of the user's gameplay,such as the achievement of significant events or goals in the videogame, regions of intense gameplay, etc.

After a predefined scene is selected, then as shown at FIG. 5C, aninterface for trimming the video of the predefined scene is provided. Byway of example, a slider bar 504 indicating the length of the predefinedscene is illustrated, with sliders 506 and 510 being moveable along theslider bar 504 to indicate a desired start and end point, respectively,for the gameplay video clip to be generated. The a representative imageframe from the video may be selected by moving a slider 508. A previewof the video clip or representative image can be displayed in the region502 of the interface.

After trimming of the predefined scene is performed, the gameplay videoclip can be defined and prepared for sharing. A sharing interface shownat FIG. 5D is presented. In the sharing interface, a preview of thevideo clip is shown at reference 512. A comments field 514 is providedfor the user to enter text comments to accompany the shared video clip.A menu 516 is provided to enable the user to select a specific group ofusers or friends with whom to share the video clip. Additionally,checkboxes 512 and 520 indicate options for sharing the video clip in2-D or 3-D.

In one embodiment, the recorded gameplay video is defined by 3-D videocontent. Therefore, if a user opts to share the selected video clip in2-D, then a conversion process is performed to convert the 3-D videocontent to 2-D video content to define the gameplay video clip. Theconverse may also occur, wherein the recorded gameplay video is definedby 2-D video content, and accordingly converted to 3-D video content asrequested by the user.

FIG. 6 illustrates a view of a social network site 600, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. The social network site 600includes, by way of example, a profile picture 602 of the current user,a search field 604 for entering text to search on the social network,and various options 606 to access specific features of the socialnetwork, such as the user's profile, a list of the user's friends,photos/videos (e.g. posted or stored by the user, shared with the user,in which the user is tagged, etc.), events, settings, etc.

The social network site 600 further includes a feed section 608, inwhich posts which have been shared on the social network are prioritizedand displayed to the user. In the illustrated embodiment, a post 610 isshown to include a gameplay video clip 612. The gameplay video clip 612is accompanied by text and other information such as the profile pictureand name of the user who generated the post (“Bob”), the time the videoclip was posted to the social network, and comments 618 in response tothe post 610. A comments field 614 is provided for the current user toenter a comment in response to the post, and an endorsement button 616is provided for the user to indicate endorsement of the post on thesocial network.

In one embodiment, the video clip 612 is a 2-D video clip that has beenconverted from a 3-D source video. Thus, when playback of the video clip612 is activated, the 2-D presentation is displayed, as indicated atreference 620. In one embodiment, the video clip 612 can be configuredto provide access to the 3-D version of the gameplay video, such as viaan embedded link/reference to the 3-D version or to another site wherethe corresponding 3-D video clip is hosted. In the illustratedembodiment, presentation 620 of the 2-D video clip 612 includes anembedded link, which when activated redirects the user to a gaming site622 on which clips including the 3-D version of video clip 612 areavailable for viewing. In the illustrated embodiment, 3-D video clip 624is the 3-D version of the 2-D video clip 612, and is accessible at thegaming site 622 along with additional video clips 626 and 628 from thesame user (“Bob”).

FIG. 7 illustrates sharing of a 3-D gameplay video clip on a socialnetwork site, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In theillustrated embodiment, a 3-D gameplay video clip 702 has been shared onthe social network site 700. The 3-D gameplay video clip 702 may bedefined according to a non-native encoding scheme, that may not benatively playable by a given device or application, such as a webbrowser. Furthermore, a given device on which the 3-D video isavailable, may not support 3-D playback. Therefore, in one embodiment, aplugin can be loaded to facilitate playback of the 3-D video clip, asindicated at reference 704. The plugin may define a codec or otherdecoding scheme to enable playback of the 3-D video clip on the user'sdevice.

In one embodiment, the plugin can be configured to convert the 3-D videoclip 702 to a 2-D format, as indicated at reference 706, resulting inplayback of a 2-D video clip 708. It should be appreciated that theconversion to 2-D video content can take place in real-time as the videois being watched, with an appropriate buffering as is known in the art.Or the conversion can be performed, in part or in whole, in advance ofinitiating playback of the 2-D video 708.

In another embodiment, the plugin can be configured to identify theuser's device through which the user is accessing the 3-D video clip.The identification of the user's device can be automatic based onhardware detection which identifies the device, or can be manuallyentered by the user. If it is determined that the user's device supports3-D playback, then the 3-D video clip can be presented in 3-D, asindicated at reference 712. For example, original user's gameplay mayhave been presented on a HMD, and the device on which the video clip isaccessed may be another HMD, and thus the user accessing the video clipmay view and experience the 3-D gameplay video in a similar manner tothat experienced by the original user during gameplay. If the device isidentified as not supporting 3-D playback, then the 3-D video isconverted to 2-D as indicated above for playback on the user's device.

In another embodiment, the 3-D video clip 702 may be defined accordingto a 3-D format that differs from that of the original 3-D format inwhich the gameplay was presented to the original user whose gameplay wasrecorded. For example, the original user may have played the video gamevia an HMD with 3-D video recorded in a first 3-D format specific forthe HMD. To facilitate broader sharing, the recorded gameplay video maybe converted to a second 3-D format, and the video clip shared in thissecond 3-D format. However, another user may access the video clip fromanother HMD supporting the first 3-D format, and therefore the videoclip can be reconverted from the second 3-D format back to the first 3-Dformat for viewing on the HMD of the user accessing the video clip.

FIG. 8 illustrates a system for converting a 3-D gameplay video clip toa 2-D gameplay video clip, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. As shown, a recorded gameplay data storage 800 stores variousdata from a gameplay of a video game. By way of example, the gameplaydata can include game state data 802, input data 804, motion data 806,and gaze data 808. The game state data 802 includes data defining thegame state of the video game during the course of the user's gameplay,including values of variables and other parameters which define the gamestate. The input data 804 can include data describing user-generatedinputs which were supplied during gameplay. The motion data 806 caninclude data describing movements of various hardware, such as a HMD orcontroller, as well movements of the user or other tracked objects. Thegaze data 808 can include data defining the gaze direction of the user'seyes during gameplay.

A 3-D recorded gameplay video storage 810 stores 3-D recorded gameplayvideo of the user's gameplay. The 3-D recorded gameplay video can bedefined in discrete clips or segments for sharing. A 3-D to 2-Dconverter 812 is provided for converting 3-D recorded gameplay video toa 2-D format. The conversion to 2-D may be based in part on the recordedgameplay data as defined above. In one embodiment, a focal depthdetermination module 814 determines a focal depth within a 3-D spacedefined by the 3-D recorded gameplay video at which to define one ormore frames of 2-D video content. A depth of field determination module816 is configured to determine the depth of field characteristicsassociated with the focal depth for the one or more frames of the 2-Dvideo content. It should be appreciated that the focal depth and depthof field characteristics can be based on the various recorded gameplaydata.

For example, when it is determined based on the gaze direction data andgame state data that the user was looking at an object situated at agiven focal depth, the focal depth for the 2-D video conversion can beset to the focal depth of the object. Depending upon the nature of thescene, the depth of field can be determined to be more shallow, so as toprovide a cinematic effect that may draw the attention of the viewer toobjects in focus at or near the given focal depth, or the depth of fieldmay be determined to be wider, to enable the viewer to see andcomprehend more of the scene in focus. It should be appreciated that thefocal depth and the depth of field can be determined based on a varietyof considerations as determined based on analysis of the recordedgameplay data.

A 2-D rendering module 818 renders the 2-D video data by applying theselected focal depth and depth of field to the 3-D recorded video torender 2-D recorded video that is stored in a 2-D recorded gameplayvideo storage 820.

FIG. 9 illustrates a 3-D image, from which a 2-D image is generated, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. The 3-D image 900defines a 3-D space in which various objects, such as a dog 902, acharacter 904, and a tree 906 are shown. A focal depth 910 isconceptually defined by a plane at a certain depth within the 3-D space.Depending upon the chosen depth of field for conversion to 2-D, objectsfore and aft of the character 904 may or may not be in focus. Forexample if a shallow depth of field is chosen then the person 904 may bein focus, whereas the dog 902 and/or the tree 906 may not be in focus.While if a wide depth of field is chosen, then the dog 902 and the tree906 may both be in focus along with the person 904.

It will be appreciated that in accordance with various embodimentsdescribed herein, the generation of a recorded gameplay video clip canbe optimized based on data collected during the original gameplay. Whena gameplay video is generated without consideration of such data, thevideo may not be appropriate to the context in which the video will beviewed, resulting in a sub-optimal viewing experience for the viewer.This effect may be even more pronounced when the original gameplay waspresented on an HMD device, as the HMD device is capable of providing avery immersive experience that may be very different from the context inwhich the gameplay video will be viewed (e.g. on a cell phone, tablet,laptop, PC display, etc.). Because there may be a large difference inthe capabilities of the hardware utilized for the original gameplaypresentation versus that utilized for viewing of the recorded gameplayvideo, it is useful to consider various gameplay-related data whengenerating the recorded gameplay video.

In some embodiments, gaze tracking information which was recorded duringgameplay can be applied to optimize the gameplay video clip. Forexample, specific regions of the gameplay video which the player wasviewing during gameplay may be identified based on the gaze trackinginformation. Such regions can be encoded with greater fidelity (e.g.increased resolution, detail, refresh rate) than other regions which theuser was not directly viewing. In one embodiment, specific objectswithin a virtual environment may be identified from the gaze trackinginformation as objects which the player was viewing during gameplay, andthese objects may be rendered with greater fidelity in the gameplayvideo clip. It will be appreciated that various object renderingparameters known in the field of computer graphics and animation can beadjusted to increase the overall appearance of such objects versus otherobjects which the user was not specifically viewing during gameplay.

In another embodiment, the number of objects rendered for a given regionof the virtual environment is potentially adjusted based on gazetracking information. For example, in one embodiment, in regions wherethe player was looking, a maximum allowable number of objects forrendering in the gameplay video clip is greater than in regions wherethe player was not looking. It should be appreciated that there may bedifferent classes/types of objects defined within the video game, andmaximum allowable numbers may be defined for each class/type of objectand adjusted based on gaze tracking information for purposes ofgenerating a gameplay video clip.

In this manner, the gameplay video is optimized so that objects orregions which the player was viewing are presented in the gameplay videowith increased graphical fidelity and emphasis, thereby highlighting tothe viewer those areas which the player was viewing during gameplay.

Furthermore, in additional embodiments, the focus and depth of field canbe adjusted based on gaze tracking information. It will be appreciatedthat a player's gaze direction may be tracked based on detection of theorientation/positioning of the player's eyes within the HMD device, incombination with detection of the orientation/positioning of the HMDdevice itself. The movements of the HMD device will correlate tomovements of the player's head, and the relative positioning of theplayer's eyes in combination with the HMD device's position/orientationcan be utilized to determine the gaze direction of the player inphysical space. This gaze direction can be utilized during gameplay of avideo game to provide appropriate views to the player of a virtualenvironment of the video game. For example, as the player moves his/herhead and/or eyes so as to gaze in various directions, the view providedon the HMD device can provide the effect of looking about the virtualenvironment in a natural manner, as if the player were situated withinthe virtual environment. It will be appreciated that the movement of theHMD device can be detected in various ways, such as by detection frominertial sensors (e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers)included within the HMD device, or by externally tracking the HMD device(e.g. tracking illuminated features on the HMD device through imagecapture and recognition).

In embodiments described herein, HMD device data, such as data regardingmovement of the HMD device, can be utilized to impact the generation ofa gameplay video clip. It should be appreciated that data describingmovement of the HMD device can be utilized alone or in combination withother types of data to alter aspects of the gameplay video.

In some embodiments, objects which the player is determined to haveviewed during gameplay may appear in focus, or the focal length may beadjusted so that such objects appear in focus, within the gameplay videoclip. The resulting effect will be such that various objects which theplayer has viewed come into focus during the course of the gameplayvideo. Furthermore, the depth of field may be adjusted based on gazetracking information. For example, in one embodiment, if the playerlooks at a given object for an extended period of time, then the depthof field can be decreased while maintaining the given object in focus.This can result in blurring of other objects (e.g. background andforeground objects), so that in the resulting gameplay video clip,emphasis is placed on the given object that the player viewed for theextended period of time. In one embodiment, the decrease in depth offield may be applied when the player's gaze upon the given objectexceeds a threshold time period. In another embodiment, a rate of changeof the depth of field can be defined to increase over time as theplayer's gaze at the given object is maintained, until a minimum depthof field is reached. The result is that when the player continues tolook at an object, the depth of field decreases slowly at first, andthen accelerates to decrease at a faster rate as time progresses, andeventually ceases to change when the minimum depth of field is reached.

When a player is experiencing a video game through an HMD device, thedisplay of the HMD device may occupy a very large portion of theplayer's field of vision. However, when a viewer views a video clip ofthe player's gameplay, the viewer may be watching the video clip on adevice which occupies a much smaller portion of the user's field ofvision, such as a mobile device, a television, or a personal computerdisplay. It should be appreciated that for purposes of the presentdisclosure, the player's “field of vision” is to be distinguished fromthe player's “field of view.” The player's field of vision is thephysical area which the player's eyes are capable of comprehending,including the player's central gaze area and peripheral vision area.Humans typically have a maximum horizontal field of vision range ofnearly 180 degrees (and typical vertical range of 135 degrees). On theother hand, the player's field of view is defined by that portion of avirtual environment that is presented to the player during gameplay.Thus, the field of view presented to the player can be any amount up to360 degrees in a given direction (e.g. horizontal or vertical).

Thus, the portion of the player's field of vision that is occupied bythe HMD device's display during gameplay may be much greater than theportion of the viewer's field of vision that is occupied by the viewer'sdevice on which the recorded gameplay video is rendered. As such, thefield of view of the virtual environment of the video game that wasprovided through the HMD device during gameplay may not be appropriatefor the viewer. Therefore, in some embodiments, the field of view thatis presented in the video clip can be adjusted to be different from thatwhich was presented to the player during the original gameplay. Forexample, in one embodiment, the field of view presented in the videoclip is set at a lower amount than that which was presented during theoriginal gameplay. Furthermore, the direction of the field of viewpresented in the video clip can be determined based on gaze trackinginformation, so as to track the player's viewing direction duringgameplay and ensure presentation of regions that the player viewedduring gameplay.

In other embodiments, the field of view presented in the gameplay videoclip is adjusted based on gameplay data. For example, in one embodiment,the field of view of the video clip is increased when it is determinedthat the player's gaze exhibits a high amount of movement. Conversely,the field of view of the video clip is decreased when it is determinedthat the player's gaze exhibits a low amount of movement. The resultingeffect is that the presentation of the virtual environment in the videoclip is zoomed out when movement of the player's gaze directionincreases, and zoomed in when movement of the player's gaze directiondecreases. By zooming out when movement of the player's gaze directionincreases, the gameplay video clip can appear less jittery duringperiods of high movement by the player, and therefore provide a smootherviewing experience for the viewer.

It should be appreciated that movement of the player's view directioncan be defined and quantified in various ways. For example, movement canbe defined based on the rate of change in direction, the magnitude ofchange in direction, the length of time over which movements of a givenrate or magnitude occur, etc. It should be appreciated that thecorrelation between movement and zoom can be defined in various ways.For example, in one embodiment, when the movement of the player's viewdirection exceeds a predefined threshold, then the field of view isadjusted to zoom out. Conversely, the field of view may be adjusted tozoom in when the movement falls below a predefined threshold. Theconcepts can be combined to provide for a default level of zoom, whichmay be adjusted to zoom out or zoom in depending upon whether the levelof movement by the player exceeds a first threshold or falls below asecond threshold, respectively.

Additionally, it is noted that because movement data of the player iscaptured during the player's gameplay, it is not necessary to analyzerecorded gameplay video to identify portions of it that are jittery.Rather, the movement data of the player can be analyzed to identifyperiods of high or low movement by the player. As noted above, themovement data can include data regarding the position/orientation andmovement of the HMD device during gameplay, as well as data regardingthe position/orientation and movement of the player's eyes duringgameplay.

In another embodiment, not only the field of view or zoom can beadjusted in response to the level of movement by the player, but alsothe location of the point of view in the virtual environment from whichvideo is generated for the gameplay video clip can be moved. Forexample, during periods of high movement by the player, then the pointof view from which the video is generated may be shifted backward and/orupward from that applied during actual gameplay. It will be appreciatedthat by shifting the point of view away from that applied duringgameplay (which was presented to the player), the point of view may insome instances change from a first-person point of view to athird-person point of view. Additionally, it is noted that changes inthe location of the point of view can be applied in combination withchanges in the field of view, based on levels of view direction movementby the player during gameplay.

Still further, changes in field of view/zoom, point of view, focus,depth of field, or other video parameters (as applied for the gameplayvideo clip that differ from that applied during the original gameplay)can be determined based on activity that occurred within the actualgameplay (which can be determined from game state data). In someembodiments, the video parameter can be adjusted based on the type ofactivity that the player (e.g. the player's character) is engaged induring the gameplay. For example, in a first-person shooter game, whenthe player's character is not engaged in combat, then the view appliedfor the video clip may be zoomed out or shifted to a third-person view,whereas when the player's character is engaged in combat, then the viewmay be zoomed in or shifted to a first-person view. In anotherembodiment, the video parameters can be adjusted based on the presenceof other objects of interest (e.g. other characters) in the vicinity ofthe player's character. For example, when other characters are in thevicinity of the player's character, it may be desirable to zoom out theview so as to show the other characters; whereas when there are notother characters in the vicinity of the player's character, then theview may be zoomed in or maintained as the same as that which wasapplied during the player's actual gameplay.

While embodiments have been described with reference to adjustment ofvideo parameters, it will be appreciated that audio presented during theplayer's gameplay may also be adjusted or maintained for purposes of thegameplay video clip. For example, 3-D audio that is presented duringgameplay may not be appropriate for the gameplay video clip. In oneembodiment, the 3-D audio is converted to 2-D audio in an appropriatemanner. For example, if the field of view provided in the video clip issmaller that which was originally presented to the player duringgameplay, then the audio might be tailored to emphasize audio from thesmaller field of view for the video clip. In another embodiment, the 3-Daudio effect is maintained in the video clip. In still otherembodiments, the 3-D audio is adjusted based on the changes which aremade to the field of view/zoom, point of view, focus, depth of field,etc. For example, when the point of view is shifted, then the audio ispresented from the shifted point of view rather than that which wasoriginally presented to the player during the original gameplay.Similarly, if the field of view is expanded, then the audio may beadjusted to include or additionally emphasize audio from objects in theexpanded field of view. In another example, if the focus is adjusted toa particular object, then audio from that particular object might beemphasized.

Though embodiments have been described with reference to sharing ofgameplay video clips to a social network, it will be appreciated that agameplay video clip can be shared, distributed, posted, or otherwisemade available to a viewer in any context and on any type of devicecapable of supporting the playback of the video clip. By way of example,and not limitation, various contexts can include websites of any kind,dedicated applications, mobile device apps, streaming video players,gaming console interfaces, etc. Devices capable of presenting a videoclip can include the following, without limitation: cell phones, PDA's,portable gaming devices, tablets, laptop computers, personal computers,televisions, projectors, HMD devices, smartwatches, etc.

With reference to FIG. 10, a diagram illustrating components of ahead-mounted display 102 is shown, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. The head-mounted display 102 includes a processor 1300for executing program instructions. A memory 1302 is provided forstorage purposes, and may include both volatile and non-volatile memory.A display 1304 is included which provides a visual interface that a usermay view. A battery 1306 is provided as a power source for thehead-mounted display 102. A motion detection module 1308 may include anyof various kinds of motion sensitive hardware, such as a magnetometer1310, an accelerometer 1312, and a gyroscope 1314.

An accelerometer is a device for measuring acceleration and gravityinduced reaction forces. Single and multiple axis models are availableto detect magnitude and direction of the acceleration in differentdirections. The accelerometer is used to sense inclination, vibration,and shock. In one embodiment, three accelerometers 1312 are used toprovide the direction of gravity, which gives an absolute reference fortwo angles (world-space pitch and world-space roll).

A magnetometer measures the strength and direction of the magnetic fieldin the vicinity of the head-mounted display. In one embodiment, threemagnetometers 1310 are used within the head-mounted display, ensuring anabsolute reference for the world-space yaw angle. In one embodiment, themagnetometer is designed to span the earth magnetic field, which is ±80microtesla. Magnetometers are affected by metal, and provide a yawmeasurement that is monotonic with actual yaw. The magnetic field may bewarped due to metal in the environment, which causes a warp in the yawmeasurement. If necessary, this warp can be calibrated using informationfrom other sensors such as the gyroscope or the camera. In oneembodiment, accelerometer 1312 is used together with magnetometer 1310to obtain the inclination and azimuth of the head-mounted display 102.

A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, basedon the principles of angular momentum. In one embodiment, threegyroscopes 1314 provide information about movement across the respectiveaxis (x, y and z) based on inertial sensing. The gyroscopes help indetecting fast rotations. However, the gyroscopes can drift overtimewithout the existence of an absolute reference. This requires resettingthe gyroscopes periodically, which can be done using other availableinformation, such as positional/orientation determination based onvisual tracking of an object, accelerometer, magnetometer, etc.

A camera 1316 is provided for capturing images and image streams of areal environment. More than one camera may be included in thehead-mounted display 102, including a camera that is rear-facing(directed away from a user when the user is viewing the display of thehead-mounted display 102), and a camera that is front-facing (directedtowards the user when the user is viewing the display of thehead-mounted display 102). Additionally, a depth camera 1318 may beincluded in the head-mounted display 102 for sensing depth informationof objects in a real environment.

The head-mounted display 102 includes speakers 1320 for providing audiooutput. Also, a microphone 1322 may be included for capturing audio fromthe real environment, including sounds from the ambient environment,speech made by the user, etc. The head-mounted display 102 includestactile feedback module 1324 for providing tactile feedback to the user.In one embodiment, the tactile feedback module 1324 is capable ofcausing movement and/or vibration of the head-mounted display 102 so asto provide tactile feedback to the user.

LEDs 1326 are provided as visual indicators of statuses of thehead-mounted display 102. For example, an LED may indicate batterylevel, power on, etc. A card reader 1328 is provided to enable thehead-mounted display 102 to read and write information to and from amemory card. A USB interface 1330 is included as one example of aninterface for enabling connection of peripheral devices, or connectionto other devices, such as other portable devices, computers, etc. Invarious embodiments of the head-mounted display 102, any of variouskinds of interfaces may be included to enable greater connectivity ofthe head-mounted display 102.

A WiFi module 1332 is included for enabling connection to the Internetvia wireless networking technologies. Also, the head-mounted display 102includes a Bluetooth module 1334 for enabling wireless connection toother devices. A communications link 1336 may also be included forconnection to other devices. In one embodiment, the communications link1336 utilizes infrared transmission for wireless communication. In otherembodiments, the communications link 1336 may utilize any of variouswireless or wired transmission protocols for communication with otherdevices.

Input buttons/sensors 1338 are included to provide an input interfacefor the user. Any of various kinds of input interfaces may be included,such as buttons, touchpad, joystick, trackball, etc. An ultra-soniccommunication module 1340 may be included in head-mounted display 102for facilitating communication with other devices via ultra-sonictechnologies.

Bio-sensors 1342 are included to enable detection of physiological datafrom a user. In one embodiment, the bio-sensors 1342 include one or moredry electrodes for detecting bio-electric signals of the user throughthe user's skin.

The foregoing components of head-mounted display 102 have been describedas merely exemplary components that may be included in head-mounteddisplay 102. In various embodiments of the invention, the head-mounteddisplay 102 may or may not include some of the various aforementionedcomponents. Embodiments of the head-mounted display 102 may additionallyinclude other components not presently described, but known in the art,for purposes of facilitating aspects of the present invention as hereindescribed.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in variousembodiments of the invention, the aforementioned handheld device may beutilized in conjunction with an interactive application displayed on adisplay to provide various interactive functions. The exemplaryembodiments described herein are provided by way of example only, andnot by way of limitation.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a Game System 1400, according to variousembodiments of the invention. Game System 1400 is configured to providea video stream to one or more Clients 1410 via a Network 1415. GameSystem 1400 typically includes a Video Server System 1420 and anoptional game server 1425. Video Server System 1420 is configured toprovide the video stream to the one or more Clients 1410 with a minimalquality of service. For example, Video Server System 1420 may receive agame command that changes the state of or a point of view within a videogame, and provide Clients 1410 with an updated video stream reflectingthis change in state with minimal lag time. The Video Server System 1420may be configured to provide the video stream in a wide variety ofalternative video formats, including formats yet to be defined. Further,the video stream may include video frames configured for presentation toa user at a wide variety of frame rates. Typical frame rates are 30frames per second, 60 frames per second, and 120 frames per second.Although higher or lower frame rates are included in alternativeembodiments of the invention.

Clients 1410, referred to herein individually as 1410A., 1410B., etc.,may include head mounted displays, terminals, personal computers, gameconsoles, tablet computers, telephones, set top boxes, kiosks, wirelessdevices, digital pads, stand-alone devices, handheld game playingdevices, and/or the like. Typically, Clients 1410 are configured toreceive encoded video streams, decode the video streams, and present theresulting video to a user, e.g., a player of a game. The processes ofreceiving encoded video streams and/or decoding the video streamstypically includes storing individual video frames in a receive bufferof the client. The video streams may be presented to the user on adisplay integral to Client 1410 or on a separate device such as amonitor or television. Clients 1410 are optionally configured to supportmore than one game player. For example, a game console may be configuredto support two, three, four or more simultaneous players. Each of theseplayers may receive a separate video stream, or a single video streammay include regions of a frame generated specifically for each player,e.g., generated based on each player's point of view. Clients 1410 areoptionally geographically dispersed. The number of clients included inGame System 1400 may vary widely from one or two to thousands, tens ofthousands, or more. As used herein, the term “game player” is used torefer to a person that plays a game and the term “game playing device”is used to refer to a device used to play a game. In some embodiments,the game playing device may refer to a plurality of computing devicesthat cooperate to deliver a game experience to the user. For example, agame console and an HMD may cooperate with the video server system 1420to deliver a game viewed through the HMD. In one embodiment, the gameconsole receives the video stream from the video server system 1420, andthe game console forwards the video stream, or updates to the videostream, to the HMD for rendering.

Clients 1410 are configured to receive video streams via Network 1415.Network 1415 may be any type of communication network including, atelephone network, the Internet, wireless networks, powerline networks,local area networks, wide area networks, private networks, and/or thelike. In typical embodiments, the video streams are communicated viastandard protocols, such as TCP/IP or UDP/IP. Alternatively, the videostreams are communicated via proprietary standards.

A typical example of Clients 1410 is a personal computer comprising aprocessor, non-volatile memory, a display, decoding logic, networkcommunication capabilities, and input devices. The decoding logic mayinclude hardware, firmware, and/or software stored on a computerreadable medium. Systems for decoding (and encoding) video streams arewell known in the art and vary depending on the particular encodingscheme used.

Clients 1410 may, but are not required to, further include systemsconfigured for modifying received video. For example, a client may beconfigured to perform further rendering, to overlay one video image onanother video image, to crop a video image, and/or the like. Forexample, Clients 1410 may be configured to receive various types ofvideo frames, such as I-frames, P-frames and B-frames, and to processthese frames into images for display to a user. In some embodiments, amember of Clients 1410 is configured to perform further rendering,shading, conversion to 3-D, or like operations on the video stream. Amember of Clients 1410 is optionally configured to receive more than oneaudio or video stream. Input devices of Clients 1410 may include, forexample, a one-hand game controller, a two-hand game controller, agesture recognition system, a gaze recognition system, a voicerecognition system, a keyboard, a joystick, a pointing device, a forcefeedback device, a motion and/or location sensing device, a mouse, atouch screen, a neural interface, a camera, input devices yet to bedeveloped, and/or the like.

The video stream (and optionally audio stream) received by Clients 1410is generated and provided by Video Server System 1420. As is describedfurther elsewhere herein, this video stream includes video frames (andthe audio stream includes audio frames). The video frames are configured(e.g., they include pixel information in an appropriate data structure)to contribute meaningfully to the images displayed to the user. As usedherein, the term “video frames” is used to refer to frames includingpredominantly information that is configured to contribute to, e.g. toeffect, the images shown to the user. Most of the teachings herein withregard to “video frames” can also be applied to “audio frames.”

Clients 1410 are typically configured to receive inputs from a user.These inputs may include game commands configured to change the state ofthe video game or otherwise affect game play. The game commands can bereceived using input devices and/or may be automatically generated bycomputing instructions executing on Clients 1410. The received gamecommands are communicated from Clients 1410 via Network 1415 to VideoServer System 1420 and/or Game Server 1425. For example, in someembodiments, the game commands are communicated to Game Server 1425 viaVideo Server System 1420. In some embodiments, separate copies of thegame commands are communicated from Clients 1410 to Game Server 1425 andVideo Server System 1420. The communication of game commands isoptionally dependent on the identity of the command Game commands areoptionally communicated from Client 1410A through a different route orcommunication channel that that used to provide audio or video streamsto Client 1410A.

Game Server 1425 is optionally operated by a different entity than VideoServer System 1420. For example, Game Server 1425 may be operated by thepublisher of a multiplayer game. In this example, Video Server System1420 is optionally viewed as a client by Game Server 1425 and optionallyconfigured to appear from the point of view of Game Server 1425 to be aprior art client executing a prior art game engine. Communicationbetween Video Server System 1420 and Game Server 1425 optionally occursvia Network 1415. As such, Game Server 1425 can be a prior artmultiplayer game server that sends game state information to multipleclients, one of which is game server system 1420. Video Server System1420 may be configured to communicate with multiple instances of GameServer 1425 at the same time. For example, Video Server System 1420 canbe configured to provide a plurality of different video games todifferent users. Each of these different video games may be supported bya different Game Server 1425 and/or published by different entities. Insome embodiments, several geographically distributed instances of VideoServer System 1420 are configured to provide game video to a pluralityof different users. Each of these instances of Video Server System 1420may be in communication with the same instance of Game Server 1425.Communication between Video Server System 1420 and one or more GameServer 1425 optionally occurs via a dedicated communication channel. Forexample, Video Server System 1420 may be connected to Game Server 1425via a high bandwidth channel that is dedicated to communication betweenthese two systems.

Video Server System 1420 comprises at least a Video Source 1430, an I/ODevice 1445, a Processor 1450, and non-transitory Storage 1455. VideoServer System 1420 may include one computing device or be distributedamong a plurality of computing devices. These computing devices areoptionally connected via a communications system such as a local areanetwork.

Video Source 1430 is configured to provide a video stream, e.g.,streaming video or a series of video frames that form a moving picture.In some embodiments, Video Source 1430 includes a video game engine andrendering logic. The video game engine is configured to receive gamecommands from a player and to maintain a copy of the state of the videogame based on the received commands. This game state includes theposition of objects in a game environment, as well as typically a pointof view. The game state may also include properties, images, colorsand/or textures of objects. The game state is typically maintained basedon game rules, as well as game commands such as move, turn, attack, setfocus to, interact, use, and/or the like. Part of the game engine isoptionally disposed within Game Server 1425. Game Server 1425 maymaintain a copy of the state of the game based on game commands receivedfrom multiple players using geographically disperse clients. In thesecases, the game state is provided by Game Server 1425 to Video Source1430, wherein a copy of the game state is stored and rendering isperformed. Game Server 1425 may receive game commands directly fromClients 1410 via Network 1415, and/or may receive game commands viaVideo Server System 1420.

Video Source 1430 typically includes rendering logic, e.g., hardware,firmware, and/or software stored on a computer readable medium such asStorage 1455. This rendering logic is configured to create video framesof the video stream based on the game state. All or part of therendering logic is optionally disposed within a graphics processing unit(GPU). Rendering logic typically includes processing stages configuredfor determining the three-dimensional spatial relationships betweenobjects and/or for applying appropriate textures, etc., based on thegame state and viewpoint. The rendering logic produces raw video that isthen usually encoded prior to communication to Clients 1410. Forexample, the raw video may be encoded according to an Adobe Flash®standard, .wav, H.264, H.263, On2, VP6, VC-1, WMA, Huffyuv, Lagarith,MPG-x. Xvid. FFmpeg, x264, VP6-8, realvideo, mp3, or the like. Theencoding process produces a video stream that is optionally packaged fordelivery to a decoder on a remote device. The video stream ischaracterized by a frame size and a frame rate. Typical frame sizesinclude 800×600, 1280×720 (e.g., 720p), 1024×768, although any otherframe sizes may be used. The frame rate is the number of video framesper second. A video stream may include different types of video frames.For example, the H.264 standard includes a “P” frame and a “I” frame.I-frames include information to refresh all macro blocks/pixels on adisplay device, while P-frames include information to refresh a subsetthereof. P-frames are typically smaller in data size than are I-frames.As used herein the term “frame size” is meant to refer to a number ofpixels within a frame. The term “frame data size” is used to refer to anumber of bytes required to store the frame.

In alternative embodiments Video Source 1430 includes a video recordingdevice such as a camera. This camera may be used to generate delayed orlive video that can be included in the video stream of a computer game.The resulting video stream, optionally includes both rendered images andimages recorded using a still or video camera. Video Source 1430 mayalso include storage devices configured to store previously recordedvideo to be included in a video stream. Video Source 1430 may alsoinclude motion or positioning sensing devices configured to detectmotion or position of an object, e.g., person, and logic configured todetermine a game state or produce video-based on the detected motionand/or position.

Video Source 1430 is optionally configured to provide overlaysconfigured to be placed on other video. For example, these overlays mayinclude a command interface, log in instructions, messages to a gameplayer, images of other game players, video feeds of other game players(e.g., webcam video). In embodiments of Client 1410A including a touchscreen interface or a gaze detection interface, the overlay may includea virtual keyboard, joystick, touch pad, and/or the like. In one exampleof an overlay a player's voice is overlaid on an audio stream. VideoSource 1430 optionally further includes one or more audio sources.

In embodiments wherein Video Server System 1420 is configured tomaintain the game state based on input from more than one player, eachplayer may have a different point of view comprising a position anddirection of view. Video Source 1430 is optionally configured to providea separate video stream for each player based on their point of view.Further, Video Source 1430 may be configured to provide a differentframe size, frame data size, and/or encoding to each of Client 1410.Video Source 1430 is optionally configured to provide 3-D video.

I/O Device 1445 is configured for Video Server System 1420 to sendand/or receive information such as video, commands, requests forinformation, a game state, gaze information, device motion, devicelocation, user motion, client identities, player identities, gamecommands, security information, audio, and/or the like. I/O Device 1445typically includes communication hardware such as a network card ormodem. I/O Device 1445 is configured to communicate with Game Server1425, Network 1415, and/or Clients 1410.

Processor 1450 is configured to execute logic, e.g. software, includedwithin the various components of Video Server System 1420 discussedherein. For example, Processor 1450 may be programmed with softwareinstructions in order to perform the functions of Video Source 1430,Game Server 1425, and/or a Client Qualifier 1460. Video Server System1420 optionally includes more than one instance of Processor 1450.Processor 1450 may also be programmed with software instructions inorder to execute commands received by Video Server System 1420, or tocoordinate the operation of the various elements of Game System 1400discussed herein. Processor 1450 may include one or more hardwaredevice. Processor 1450 is an electronic processor.

Storage 1455 includes non-transitory analog and/or digital storagedevices. For example, Storage 1455 may include an analog storage deviceconfigured to store video frames. Storage 1455 may include a computerreadable digital storage, e.g. a hard drive, an optical drive, or solidstate storage. Storage 1415 is configured (e.g. by way of an appropriatedata structure or file system) to store video frames, artificial frames,a video stream including both video frames and artificial frames, audioframe, an audio stream, and/or the like. Storage 1455 is optionallydistributed among a plurality of devices. In some embodiments, Storage1455 is configured to store the software components of Video Source 1430discussed elsewhere herein. These components may be stored in a formatready to be provisioned when needed.

Video Server System 1420 optionally further comprises Client

Qualifier 1460. Client Qualifier 1460 is configured for remotelydetermining the capabilities of a client, such as Clients 1410A or1410B. These capabilities can include both the capabilities of Client1410A itself as well as the capabilities of one or more communicationchannels between Client 1410A and Video Server System 1420. For example,Client Qualifier 1460 may be configured to test a communication channelthrough Network 1415.

Client Qualifier 1460 can determine (e.g., discover) the capabilities ofClient 1410A manually or automatically. Manual determination includescommunicating with a user of Client 1410A and asking the user to providecapabilities. For example, in some embodiments, Client Qualifier 1460 isconfigured to display images, text, and/or the like within a browser ofClient 1410A. In one embodiment, Client 1410A is an HMD that includes abrowser. In another embodiment, client 1410A is a game console having abrowser, which may be displayed on the HMD. The displayed objectsrequest that the user enter information such as operating system,processor, video decoder type, type of network connection, displayresolution, etc. of Client 1410A. The information entered by the user iscommunicated back to Client Qualifier 1460.

Automatic determination may occur, for example, by execution of an agenton Client 1410A and/or by sending test video to Client 1410A. The agentmay comprise computing instructions, such as java script, embedded in aweb page or installed as an add-on. The agent is optionally provided byClient Qualifier 1460. In various embodiments, the agent can find outprocessing power of Client 1410A, decoding and display capabilities ofClient 1410A, lag time reliability and bandwidth of communicationchannels between Client 1410A and Video Server System 1420, a displaytype of Client 1410A, firewalls present on Client 1410A, hardware ofClient 1410A, software executing on Client 1410A, registry entrieswithin Client 1410A, and/or the like.

Client Qualifier 1460 includes hardware, firmware, and/or softwarestored on a computer readable medium. Client Qualifier 1460 isoptionally disposed on a computing device separate from one or moreother elements of Video Server System 1420. For example, in someembodiments, Client Qualifier 1460 is configured to determine thecharacteristics of communication channels between Clients 1410 and morethan one instance of Video Server System 1420. In these embodiments theinformation discovered by Client Qualifier can be used to determinewhich instance of Video Server System 1420 is best suited for deliveryof streaming video to one of Clients 1410.

Embodiments of the present invention may be practiced with variouscomputer system configurations including hand-held devices,microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. Theinvention can also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a wire-based or wireless network.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that theinvention can employ various computer-implemented operations involvingdata stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiringphysical manipulation of physical quantities. Any of the operationsdescribed herein that form part of the invention are useful machineoperations. The invention also relates to a device or an apparatus forperforming these operations. The apparatus can be specially constructedfor the required purpose, or the apparatus can be a general-purposecomputer selectively activated or configured by a computer programstored in the computer. In particular, various general-purpose machinescan be used with computer programs written in accordance with theteachings herein, or it may be more convenient to construct a morespecialized apparatus to perform the required operations.

The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on acomputer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any datastorage device that can store data, which can be thereafter be read by acomputer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include harddrives, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-accessmemory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes and other optical andnon-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium caninclude computer readable tangible medium distributed over anetwork-coupled computer system so that the computer readable code isstored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Although the method operations were described in a specific order, itshould be understood that other housekeeping operations may be performedin between operations, or operations may be adjusted so that they occurat slightly different times, or may be distributed in a system whichallows the occurrence of the processing operations at various intervalsassociated with the processing, as long as the processing of the overlayoperations are performed in the desired way.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail forpurposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certainchanges and modifications can be practiced within the scope of theappended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is notto be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified withinthe scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for sharing three-dimensional gameplayof a video game, that is rendered to a head-mounted display (HMD), to asocial network, comprising: recording, by an HMD connected computer, athree-dimensional (3-D) video clip to a storage, the 3-D video clipgenerated from 3-D gameplay of a video game that is driven byinteractive use of the HMD; receiving, by the HMD connected computer, arequest to share the 3-D video clip to a social network; generating, bythe HMD connected computer, a two-dimensional (2-D) video clip byconverting the 3-D video clip to a 2-D format; sharing, by the HMDconnected computer, the 2-D video clip to the social network.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: sharing the 3-D video clip to thesocial network; wherein the social network is configured to provide the3-D video clip to a client device when the client device supportsplayback of a 3-D format, the social network further configured toprovide the 2-D video clip to the client device when the client devicedoes not support playback of the 3-D format.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein receiving the request is defined from an active gameplay sessionof a user.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving the request isdefined from a button press on a controller device during the activegameplay session of the user.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein sharingthe 2-D video clip to the social network includes generating a post to asocial graph associated with a user of the social network, the postdefined to include the 2-D video clip.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinsharing the 2-D video clip to the social network includes accessing anAPI of the social network to activate a posting logic of the socialnetwork to define the post to the social network that references the 2-Dvideo clip.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the 2-D videoclip includes analyzing gameplay activity occurring during the 3-Dgameplay of the video game to determine one or more of a focal depth, adepth of field, a level of zoom, a view direction, or a field of view,to be applied for a frame of the 2-D video clip.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein generating the 2-D video clip includes analyzing player gazeinformation occurring during the 3-D gameplay of the video game todetermine one or more of a focal depth, a depth of field, a level ofzoom, a view direction, or a field of view, to be applied for a frame ofthe 2-D video clip.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the player gazeinformation is processed from input data generated by the head-mounteddisplay.
 10. A method for sharing three-dimensional video, that isrendered to a head-mounted display (HMD), to a social network,comprising: recording, by an HMD connected computer, a three-dimensional(3-D) video clip to a storage, the 3-D video clip generated frominteractivity with a 3-D virtual space that is driven by interactive useof the HMD; receiving, by the HMD connected computer, a request to sharethe 3-D video clip via a web site; generating, by the HMD connectedcomputer, a two-dimensional (2-D) video clip by converting the 3-D videoclip to a 2-D format; providing, by the HMD connected computer, the 3-Dvideo clip and the 2-D video clip to the web site; wherein the web siteis configured to provide the 3-D video clip to a client device when theclient device supports 3-D rendering, the web site further configured toprovide the 2-D video clip to the client device when the client devicedoes not support 3-D rendering.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinreceiving the request is defined from an active virtual reality sessionof a user.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the request isdefined from a button press on a controller device during the activevirtual reality session of the user.
 13. The method of claim 10, whereingenerating the 2-D video clip includes analyzing activity occurringduring the interactivity with the 3-D virtual space to determine one ormore of a focal depth, a depth of field, a level of zoom, a viewdirection, or a field of view, to be applied for a frame of the 2-Dvideo clip.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the 2-D videoclip includes analyzing user gaze information occurring during theinteractivity with the 3-D virtual space to determine one or more of afocal depth, a depth of field, a level of zoom, a view direction, or afield of view, to be applied for a frame of the 2-D video clip.
 15. Amethod for sharing three-dimensional video, comprising: receiving, by aserver computer, a three-dimensional (3-D) video clip from a firstclient device; receiving, by the server computer, a request to share the3-D video clip to a social network; generating, by the server computer,a two-dimensional (2-D) video clip by converting the 3-D video clip to a2-D format; receiving, by the server computer from a second clientdevice, a request to access the 3-D video clip; determining, by theserver computer, whether the second client device supports 3-Drendering; providing the 3-D video clip to the second client device whenthe second client device supports 3-D rendering, and providing the 2-Dvideo clip to the second client device when the second client devicedoes not support 3-D rendering.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the3-D video clip is generated from interactivity with a 3-D virtual spacethat is driven by interactive use of an HMD, and wherein the firstclient device is an HMD connected computer.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein the interactivity with the 3-D virtual space defines gameplay ofa video game.